Return of the Last McKenna (Harlequin Romance) (13 page)

She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Desire
pounded a hard rhythm in her body, and for a long, long second she forgot where
she was. She only knew Brody was kissing her and it was the sexiest, most
exquisite experience of her life. She shifted against him, pressing her pelvis
to his erection, wanting more, wanting—

Brody broke away. He cursed and spun toward the window. “I’m
sorry, Kate. I shouldn’t have done that. I wasn’t thinking. I…”

She laid a hand on his bare shoulder and waited until he’d
pivoted back to face her. “It’s okay, Brody. I wanted that as much as you
did.”

“I know, but… I need to talk to you before we take this any
further.”

The clock chimed the half hour. She cursed the timing. “Can it
wait? We have to get going before we’re late. Already, with the traffic and set
up time, we’re likely to barely make it there before the event starts.”

“Yeah, it can wait.” He drew the T-shirt over his head, and she
bit back a sigh of disappointment. “A little while, but not too long, okay?”

“Sounds serious.” She grinned. “You’re not giving me a fatal
diagnosis, Doctor, are you?”

“No, no.” He fiddled with the stack of orders on the counter
beside him. “Just something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Okay.” She lifted the boxes of cupcakes, then placed them in
his arms. Curiosity piqued inside her but she had to concentrate on work for
now. Like he said, they’d talk later. “We’d better head out now or we’ll be
late.”

“If you don’t mind, we can stop by my office. I keep an extra
shirt and tie there, for accidents just like this.”

“Sure.” He helped her load the cupcakes into the van, repeating
what they had done two nights before, with her driving, him sitting in the
passenger’s seat. They drove the few blocks to his office, and Kate waited in
the van while he went inside and traded the T-shirt for a clean shirt and suit
jacket. When he returned, she put the van in gear.

Brody glanced over at her. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She smoothed a hand over the black jersey fabric
of the sweetheart neckline dress she’d chosen. “This is a special event.”

“Big one for Nora’s Sweet Shop?”

“You could say that.” She paused. “Really, it’s a big one for
me.”

“Sounds important.”

“It is. It’s a way of thanking the people who have been there
for me when I needed them.” She glanced over at him. “It’s a thank you for the
troops.”

He tensed beside her. Whatever he’d been holding back seemed to
be bubbling under the surface. Why?

“Is something bothering you?” she asked.

He glanced out the window, as they headed out of Newton and
into the city, against the flow of outgoing traffic. Horns honked. Lights
flashed. But Kate’s attention stayed on Brody.

“Yes and no,” he said after a while.

“You want to talk about it?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time, so long she thought he
hadn’t heard the question. Finally, he let out a breath. “I’ve been wrestling
with something for some time now and I know I need to talk about it, but…” he
shook his head, “doing so is a lot harder than I expected.” He paused again, and
she waited for him to continue. “The last medical mission trip I took was really
difficult. I lost a patient, and it’s been haunting me.”

“Oh, Brody, I’m sorry.”

“I made a promise to the patient, one I’m not so sure I can
keep anymore. He didn’t want me to say what happened to him. He just wanted me
to encourage someone very close to him to focus on the future, not on what
happened in the past, and I just don’t know if that’s the right thing to do.”
Brody hesitated again and then looked at her. “If it were you, what would you
want?”

She thought about her answer. “I don’t know. A part of me feels
like I’ve just started moving forward, and knowing more, or going back there
would be like the day I found out. I just…don’t want to go there again. I’m just
getting out of that cement, you know?”

“So you’re saying it would be better not to know?”

“For me, for now…that’s what I’d want. Maybe down the road, it
would be easier.”

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep that in mind.” He turned to
the window, and watched the world go by, a clear sign the subject was
closed.

The sun had started to set, casting a golden lake over the
rippling green waters of Boston Harbor, and twinkling halos over every
skyscraper.

“The city is amazing, isn’t it?” Kate said. “Every winter, I
say I want to move and open up a location in Florida or Hawaii, or any place
that doesn’t get snow. But there’s just something about Boston,
something…magical, that I love. No matter where I go, my heart will always be
here.”

“I feel the same way. I’ve traveled all over the country, seen
a lot of the world, and there’s still nothing like Boston. I love it here, for
all its faults…and traffic.”

Kate laughed. “Yeah, the traffic is one thing I can do without.
My grandparents don’t mind it. They say it gives them extra alone time in the
car. They’re old romantics that way.”

“They sound it.” Brody glanced out the window, watching the
city go by in a blur of buildings. “I guess everyone hopes to find a true love
like that, the kind that can last a lifetime. I know my grandparents were like
that. My parents, not so much. They fought all the time. Then they’d make up,
and it’d be fiery in a different way. I think they were two opposite souls, who
just couldn’t let go of each other.”

“Sometimes the fireworks are good.” Though for her parents,
attraction hadn’t been enough to sustain their marriage. They’d been too
different to make it work, too infatuated to slow down and think before they
tied the knot.

Still, fireworks summed up what had been going on inside her
ever since she’d met Brody. And every time he smiled at her. Or touched her.
And, oh, yes, when he kissed her.

Fireworks. Bottle rockets—no, Roman candles—of desire,
launching in her chest. Fireworks alone didn’t create a relationship, and she
needed to remember that.

Brody had turned his attention on her, and it took all her
effort to keep her eyes on the road and not on him. “Is that what you’re looking
for? The fireworks and happiness, even in a traffic jam?”

She sighed. “I gave up on that a long time ago. My parents were
like yours. All fireworks, no substance. I guess watching their marriage
disintegrate made me lose faith in ever finding Mr. Right.”

“And who is your Mr. Right?”

“Why, are you applying for the job?” She cast him a grin,
pretending the question was a joke. But after that kiss, a part of her hoped
like hell the answer was yes.

“Can’t do that if I don’t know the qualifications.” He grinned.
“I could be all wrong for you.”

“Could be.” Or he could be all right. She didn’t know yet, but
a part of her really wanted to find out. “I guess my brother is the one I hold
up as the ideal for all the men I meet. Andrew was smart, and funny, and driven,
and above all, a hero. The kind of man who was true to those he loved, loyal to
everyone he knew, and braver than anyone in the world. You could count on him to
be honest, to be the one you depended on, rather than him depending on you.”

“He sounds like the perfect guy.”

She laughed. “Oh, he was far from perfect, believe me. There
was a time when we were little, like nine and seven. He and I were fighting over
a toy, and he slugged me, hard. My eye swelled up, my cheek turned purple, and
he felt so bad, he carried me to my grandmother, and stood over me for hours,
changing out the ice pack and worrying like a new mother. He got in a lot of
trouble that day, and for years, would tell me how bad he felt about it. I, of
course, being the evil older sister, milked that injury for all I could.”

Brody laughed. “I know that trick. Riley and I have given Finn
a hard time and taken him on a guilt trip more than once.”

“I’ve met Riley and I can see that about him. He seems like he
was…mischievous as a child.”

Brody laughed. “He still is.”

“What’s Finn like?”

“The total opposite of Riley. Finn is an architect, all
straight lines and organizational charts, although marrying Ellie and adopting a
child has loosened him up a lot. Riley runs an after school program at Wilmont
Academy. He was the slowest to grow up, but he’s making us all proud now.”

“And you, of course, being a doctor who also volunteers his
time to help the needy. You must make them all proud, too.”

His gaze went to the window again. For a long time, he was
silent, just watching the traffic go by, the houses yield to skyscrapers. “Some
days I think I do. Other days…not so much.”

He didn’t elaborate and she didn’t press. Once again, Brody had
closed a door between them, and Kate reminded herself she didn’t need a man like
that. At its heart, this wasn’t a relationship, it was a business deal. He was
helping her and in exchange, he’d get the cupcakes for Riley’s wedding.
Fireworks or not, if there was no substance, there wasn’t anything to build
on.

Then why did she care what troubles lay behind those blue eyes?
Why did she keep pressing for more?

Because she sensed something good, deep inside of Brody.
Something worth fighting for.

“So, who’s your ideal Mrs. Right?” she asked, upending her own
vow to stay neutral. She exited the highway, and came to stop at a red light. A
sign for her and Brody? “The perfect doctor’s wife with the gloves and pillbox
hat?”

“Lord, no, that would drive me nuts.” He chuckled. “I’m not
that formal. Ever. I like women who are…natural.”

“As in no makeup, wearing sandals and T-shirts?” The light
turned green, and Kate accelerated again.

“As in they act like themselves all the time. I hate when
people act one way but feel the opposite. I don’t like secrets or
surprises.”

“Me, too. If you asked me my relationship dealbreaker, it would
be dishonesty. I can’t stand being lied to. Have the courage to tell me the
truth, or don’t waste my time.” She flicked on her directional, then pulled into
the hotel’s parking garage. The van bumped over a speed strip. Kate cast a quick
glance at the cargo, but nothing had moved. “If you want people who are true to
their word and to those they care about, then you’ve come to the right place
tonight.”

Brody didn’t say much as they pulled the boxes out of the van,
then loaded them onto a cart and headed up the to the third floor in the hotel
elevator. Once inside the ballroom, a hotel staffer directed Kate to the banquet
table, telling her to set up dessert on the far corner.

She glanced at Brody several times, but the easy banter between
them had disappeared. Had she said something wrong? Or was he still thinking
about the patient he had lost?

“We only have a few minutes before everyone arrives, so we need
to hurry,” she said. They worked out an assembly line of sorts, with Brody
handing Kate the cupcakes while she laid them on tiered trays she had brought
with her.

“Red, white and blue?” he said, noting the arrangement of the
desserts. “It almost looks like you’ve made flags.”

“I did.” She pointed to the array of cupcakes, set in the
familiar pattern of the flag for the USA. Then she drew in a deep breath.
Tonight would be difficult, no doubt, but the cause was a worthy one, and Kate
vowed to suck it up and not cry. “Okay. Here they come.”

The ballroom doors opened and dozens of men and women in
uniform strode into the ballroom, chatting in low tones as the band took up the
stage and began to play “America the Beautiful.” The room filled with a sea of
green and camouflage, flanked by bright flags on either end.

“I haven’t seen these people in a long time. I’m so nervous and
excited.”

“I thought you said it was a thank you,” Brody said.

“It is.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “For the members
of Andrew’s unit, along with several other units from Massachusetts who returned
to the States in the last few weeks. It was originally supposed to be a
retirement party for the top ranking general in the area, but the general put up
his own money and paid to have a party for the troops instead. So it mushroomed
into this big event. They came to me for the cupcakes because they knew my
brother had…” She bit her lip and shook her head. She would not cry tonight.
Would not. “Well, that he didn’t come home.”

The troops settled into chairs that ringed tables decorated
with patriotic colors. An honor guard marched in, raised the flag, and the whole
room stood at attention to sing “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“There are members of Andrew’s unit here tonight?” Brody hung
back behind the banquet tables with Kate, his stomach riding his throat.

“Yes. I can’t wait to introduce you to them.”

Introduce him? The thought hit Brody in the chest like an
anvil. Kate had said the one thing she couldn’t abide was someone who didn’t
tell the truth. All Brody had done since he met her was lie. Lie about who he
was. Lie about why he was in her shop. Lie about his volunteer work. He’d done
it because it had been Andrew’s last request, but now…

Now he wasn’t sure it had been the right decision. How could he
expect her to move forward, to look to the future, if Brody was holding a key to
her past in his hands?

“These are the true heroes,” she whispered to Brody. Tears
filled her eyes, while she watched the general take the stage and thank the
brave men and women who had given their lives in defense of their country. “The
people who risked everything for those back home.”

Brody had thought he was doing the right thing by not telling
Kate about Andrew’s death, but he’d been wrong. The woman beside him was no
daisy. She was as strong as an oak tree, and the time had come for him to tell
her the truth. He’d be there to help her through it, and she would be okay. He’d
make sure of it.